


Green and Blue

by Mintyscakepups



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Season 3 Spoilers, and get some character practice for these two in?, mostly an excuse to write fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-16 09:11:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14808437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintyscakepups/pseuds/Mintyscakepups
Summary: Claire and Jim are ever-busy Trollhunters, trying to manage the trolls' pilgrimage to find a new Heartstone. So,  naturally,  when an opportunity for them to enjoy some time alone together crops up,  they decide to take advantage of it.





	Green and Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Something short and sweet.  
> Practice with fluff and also trying to get a handle on their characters?  
> That also as well?

A growl rumbled out from deep within Jim's throat before he had a chance to swallow it. Jealousy twisted inside his stomach like snakes as he watched Claire bark a genuine laugh at whatever stupid joke the store clerk across the street had told her. He knew he was being ridiculous; it would be insanely unreasonable for him to expect her not to enjoy even a passing conversation with another guy- who just so happened to be _subjectively_ attractive, he admitted with a huff- especially when this could very well have been the first human contact she's gotten to experience in roughly a week or so.

And therein lied the problem; while Claire received scarce human contact, Jim had not spoken with any human who was not her or Toby or his mother in _months_ since they had set out on their mass exodus of the ruined Trollmarket. He honestly couldn't decide if his jealousy stemmed from the fact that this cute guy was speaking with her, or if the very fact that, unlike him, Claire could still freely talk to _anyone_ was upsetting him.

He felt his amulet whir and vibrate against his stomach from within the kangaroo pouch of his sweatshirt, responding to his stress. He groaned in annoyance, having absolutely no desire to be trapped in his armor inside this empty coin-laundromat.

"Oh, shut up." He grumbled.

Sighing deeply, Jim pushed away from the laundromat window and tugged the hood of his jacket further down over his face. It was a _hot_ summer night and he was sweltering, but fully covered via hoodie and baggy sweats was the only way he could get away with accompanying Claire into the tiny southern town they'd stumbled across.

They'd formed a bit of a routine over the past months; several days of hard travel, and one for rest which Claire typically took as an opportunity to go into whatever local town they had wound up near. Jim always tried to accompany her whenever she did, openly uncomfortable with letting her go into a town neither of them had been to on her own. She would always pretend to protest, claiming that she didn't need "Mr. Macho" to protect her, but they both knew she appreciated his company- especially given how few opportunities cropped up for them to be alone together.

They would make a trip into the local market to gather up actual human-quality food to prepare meals- mostly for her and somewhat for Jim as well, as he was still trying to discover what foods his new palate would still allow him to enjoy. And then, while they made due washing both themselves and their clothes in streams along the way, Claire would take full advantage of the opportunity to find an actual shower- sometimes just for a sense of normalcy. Public fitness centers were typically her best bets and, if luck was on their side, she could find one with a back entrance to sneak Jim into without much trouble.

The old as dirt washing machine they had claimed let loose an ungodly screech, signalling that it was done.

Grateful for a distraction, Jim snatched up his bag and set to loading up the sopping garments. They could hang everything up to dry during the day- he was just ready to go.

The door squeaked open and he tensed, ears perking attentively.

"I think your hair's still drying," Claire observed behind him, speaking around something in her mouth. "Your back is all wet."

Jim relaxed and shouldered his bag as he turned to look at her. A genuine grin broke out across his face as his gaze fell on her, feeling the same burst of happiness that normally sparked inside of him whenever he saw her. Claire walked toward him, clutching a paper bag of groceries to her chest with one arm and wielding a half eaten candy bar in her free hand. She was dressed more seasonally appropriate in a simple t-shirt and shorts. Her hair, which had grown longer since they'd started traveling, was tied up away from her neck.

She stopped in front of him and bounced onto her tip toes. Jim smirked and leaned down to pressed his lips to hers.

"You smell a lot better, though," Claire beamed back at him as she dropped back onto her heels.

"I smell like cheap gym soap," He corrected, scrunching his nose as he took a whiff of his sleeve.

"Still beats troll sweat stink," she insisted and handed him her empty candy wrapper. He accepted it from her but waited for her to turn away before pushing it into his mouth.

Jim could only imagine the kind of suspicious figure he cut as they left the laundromat together; a cute, petite girl side by side with a hunkered, hooded man a good couple heads taller than herself. Luckily, at this time of night, it didn't appear that anyone else was out on the streets with them.

They cut through an alley and made a beeline toward the trees surrounding the town.

" _Freedom!_ " Jim sighed, relieved, as he pulled his sweatshirt up over his head, catching it on his horns for a moment as he did so. "I don't know if trolls can get heat stroke, but the human half of me was definitely feeling it."

Claire laughed and held up her hand to shield herself from the spray of water drops that was flung into the air as Jim shook his head, trying to dry his still wet hair. She took a glance back through the trees at the quaint little town and Jim wondered what she was thinking about. His anxious mind sprung immediately toward the worst conclusions, completely of its own volition, and he huffed in guilty annoyance with himself.

 _I highly doubt that one conversation with a complete stranger is enough to make Claire leave you, Lake_ , he thought sourly, ears drooping. She'd dropped everything for him, the extend that she was willing to go for him- that they both were willing to go for _each other_ \- was very telling. But not being able to readily interact with anyone who wasn't a troll could very well be starting to weight on her...

"Hey," Claire said suddenly, whipping back around to face him. Jim's brows jumped toward his hairline in surprise, ears pricking attentively. "We still have plenty of night to burn- want to take a detour before we head back?"

"What kind of detour?" Jim asked, already on board. They didn't get many chances for any sort of alone time anymore and, typically, what opportunities they did receive were more business than pleasure.

"I found this cool little place yesterday while everyone was sleeping," Claire explained, grinning. "Come on, let's go for a walk," she grabbed his hand and he let her tug him along.

As much as he welcomed any intimate moment he could share with his fiercely devoted girlfriend, he couldn't ignore the spontaneous nervous butterflies that fluttered in the pit of his stomach at the prospect of what she might have planned. They hadn't advanced very far into their exploration of physical affection and, with everything that had happened after the battle of the Eternal Night and with their current situation as it stood, they had kind of plateaued at kissing. Neither of them had made any attempt to go further and, even though Jim had lived in his new body for several months now, he still felt highly insecure with himself, at least in any sense where Claire might possibly be involved.

When it came to feats of strength or battle prowess, Jim was more confident now than he ever had been- and rightfully so. But physical intimacy? To any significant degree? That was a different story entirely.

He coughed nervously. "I think Blinky might have an opinion or two about this."

After a conversation with Barbara- that consisted of nothing either Jim or Claire knew for certain, but that they could easily infer- Blinky had appointed himself as the teens' "chaperone" for their journey. While he kept a respectful distance when it came to down time at the camp, he typically tried to keep one eye on them when he could spare it and inserted himself into any situation that he thought might need a little parental guidance.

If they were being honest, having a parental figure keeping an eye out for them provided a sense of normalcy neither had really expected to miss. But innate teenage rebellion prevented them from openly admitting to it.

"What Blinky doesn't know," Claire responded cheekily, "won't hurt him."

Jim gulped, heartbeat roaring in his ears. Much as he loved her, he hated surprises. 

As they proceeded deeper into the trees and followed the natural, gradual curve of the mountainside, it became increasingly harder for Claire to see any distance in front of her. Jim, who did not share her difficulty with seeing in the dark, quickly noticed her blind fumbling. He was about to make a comment when she suddenly stumbled forward. Still holding her hand, he quickly caught her and helped her back to her feet.

"You ok?" He asked, scanning the ground and locating almost immediately the exposed root she had caught her foot on.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured and shot him a sheepish smile. "But I hadn't _exactly_ thought about it being too dark for me to see anything."

Jim chuckled. "Would you like some help?"

"I would _love_ some help," Claire admitted.

After tying his jacket around his waist and adjusting his bag on his shoulder, Jim moved to stand in front of Claire and crouched down to her level, his back to her. Taking the hint, Claire climbed onto his back and coiled her arms around his neck. The brown bag she'd left the store with back in town was trapped between them against her shoulder, it's contents somewhat smooshed, but still perfectly edible. Jim stood, hooking his hands beneath her knees to hold her secure.

"Ok, which way?" he asked, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder.

Claire hummed thoughtfully and rolled her eyes skyward. "Up."

He kicked off of the ground and launched them both effortlessly into the canopy of leaves overhead. He could hear Claire's outburst of surprised laughter and found himself grinning at the sound as he settled into a crouch on one of the higher branches of a nearby tree. From their new vantage point, they could see over the tops of the other trees as they grew along the slopes of the mountainside and off into the horizon; a leafy verdant blanket that rippled with the night breeze. The sky overhead was perfectly clear and just filled to the brim with stars.

Much as Jim loved his hometown, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the sky over Arcadia so full of stars. It was stunning.

"It's beautiful," Claire said wistfully, resting her chin between his horns.

Jim inhaled deeply, drinking in the smokey flavors of the forest. Though a hindrance at times, he had come to appreciate his heightened sense of smell, especially for experiences such as this.

Claire prodded one of his ears and felt it flick reflexively against her finger. She poked it again and Jim snorted, amused.

"Stop it," he chuckled, turning his head away from the offending digit.

"Listen for running water," she instructed and pointed off into the distance, "It should be somewhere over there."

Jim remembered how he had tasted something vaguely metallic on the air a moment ago off near the direction she pointed to and focused his hearing. Sure enough, he could hear running water maybe a few miles off from where they were. He kicked off the branch and shot them both off into the night. He covered the distance in only a handful of leaps, quick and lithe like a cat.

He landed in a tree, overlooking a small clearing. It was tiny and quiet, save for the tranquil sound of running water produced by a small river-fed waterfall that tumbled over the rocks into a modest pond. He was about to make a comment when he suddenly spotted a tiny twinkle of green among the grass. 

"What was that?" he asked aloud, leaning forward and searching the grass. He spotted several other sparks, scattered randomly through out clearing and couldn't make sense of what he was seeing.

"Those, _Jimbo_ ," Claire said, a smile in her voice, "are fireflies."

" _Those_ are fireflies?" He asked, incredulously. "I always thought they were yellow, not green."

Claire giggled softly, charmed and amused by his naivety and the way he was watching the clearing so intently.  A Californian native, fireflies were not something Jim had been exposed to before, outside of the ones he'd seen in movies. Claire, on the other hand, could remember many summer nights in Mexico at her abuelita's house, watching them fly lazily just above the grass.

Jim jumped down onto the ground and promptly flinched back in surprise when the action sent a flurry of the phosphorescent insects flying up around him. A warm, bright laugh burst from his chest, his eyes sparkling as he tried to follow their movement.

Claire slid down from his back and he took another leap, landing in the center of the clearing and sending more lazy sparks cycloning from the ground. A huge toothy grin was plastered across his face as he dropped to all fours and made a quick lap around the field in large, bounding strides, lighting up the open air with yellow-green phosphorescence. He sat back on his haunches as he turned to locate his girlfriend, who remained just outside the clearing, an indulgent smile on her face as she watched him.

Rising back onto two legs, he jogged over to her and took her hands. Leaving their bags beneath the tree, they ran back out into the clearing.

Unfiltered, genuine laughter filled the air as they spun and raced through the grass. The ground was a lit as if it were on fire and they half danced, half ran around the pond. By the end of it all they were breathless from laughing and wound up collapsed atop each other as they tried to catch their breath, the fireflies they had disturbed drifting lazily around them.

After everything they had experienced, from the Eternal Night to the past months of hard travelling they had been doing, it was the first time they actually felt their age. Like it was the first chance they'd received in a very long time to actually be young; to actually be kids.

The stared in silence for a while at the vast canopy of stars overhead, just enjoying each other's company. Claire moved to rest her head against his stomach and Jim idly began toying with her ponytail, twisting it absent-mindedly around his fingers.

"I know that one," Claire suddenly proclaimed, pointing skyward. "Well, I know the shape-," she made a vaguely boxy outline, "-but I don't remember the name."

Jim followed her finger and took a hold of her out stretched hand. "It's more like..." he guided her hand into the actual outline of the constellation, "Ursa Major."

"And then over here," he guided her hand once more, outlining a serpentine shape among the stars, "is Hydra. And that's Virgo."

"Wow," she wove her fingers into his, "I had no idea the Trollhunter was also an astronomer."

Jim snorted. "Not really. I just did this a lot with my father when I was a kid."

Claire turned her head to look at him. He never talked about his deadbeat dad. On the occasions that he would pop up into conversation, she never pressed the subject. There didn't seem to her for there to be any reason to dwell on someone who, assuming they stayed together- she knew they were still very young and a plethora of things could happen to them to damage their relationship- would never play an active part in either of their lives.

She wondered in passing what James Lake Sr would have to say about how amazing the son he'd left behind had turned out to be.

"I love you," she said suddenly.

Jim blinked, pulling his gaze from the stars overhead to meet her eye. "I know."

He smirked when she punched him playfully in the side.

Chuckling, he pulled her up beside him and pressed his lips to her cheek. "I love you too."

Claire sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. "Good. Then I feel obligated to tell you that green really isn't your color."

Jim blinked and stared at his hand in confusion. "I thought I was blue." Just in case he was missing something, he stared down at the plain T-shirt he was wearing. No, that was white.

She laughed. "No, I'm talking about your little monster."

His brows flew up in surprise, mind leaping right into the gutter.

" _Tch_ ," she slapped his shoulder, knowing from his expression what had crossed his mind. "I saw you glaring through the window back in town."

"I wasn't _glaring_ ," he insisted defensively. "I was making sure you were safe."

"You were showing your teeth." She deadpanned.

He honestly didn't remember doing that, he realized with a twinge of shame.

"I care about you, Jim," Claire said, resting her cheek on her knee as she looked at him. "I'm not going to just run off with someone else- especially a complete stranger."

He shot her an affectionate smile. "I know. I wasn't worried about that- well, not completely. I was honestly mostly jealous of the fact that you were talking to him instead of the other way around."

Claire patted his chest and he closed his hand over hers. "Jim, if you wanted to talk to cute boys, you should have said so. I have connections." She shot him a playful smirk.

He laughed, shaking his head. "Not exactly what I meant. I mean, I miss being able to talk to someone who _isn't_ a belching troll."

"I can imagine," Claire nodded in understanding. She twirled a blade of grass between her fingers idly. "Maybe once we find a new Heartstone, we can figure out how we can fix that. I don't know that we'll find a permanent solution- Merlin seems very adamant about that-" she didn't even try to hide the disgust in her voice, "-but maybe there's something more short term that won't limit you so much."

"Maybe," Jim allowed, fixing his gaze back to the canopy of stars overhead. "Or maybe I just need to get used to this," he gestured vaguely to his body. "The learning curve is a lot steeper than I might have expected it to be. It's all very... different."

"If it helps," Claire started. "I like blue."

He grinned at the impish glint in her eye. "That does help a little, actually."

**Author's Note:**

> Proof reading will happen on the moro.  
> For now- I sleep.  
> Edit: the deed is done. And I sleep again.


End file.
